The Adventures of Green-Tail
by Iluva
Summary: For everyone who cringed when Tony agreed to bring an Industrial Revolution to the 4th Kingdom.
1. Chapter 1

The wolf maiden strode confidently up the main passage to the Troll Palace. She was stopped several times and menaced, but she bowed politely and told them she had gifts for the Troll Royals. The guards followed her suspiciously and became a threatening and jeering escort.

The Troll Royals were watching a prisoner entertain them by trying to leap over spears jabbed at him from a semi circle of guards. The prisoner was successful in entertaining as much as he was unsuccessful at dodging. When the prisoner fell and didn't get up, the Troll Royals saw the wolf maiden in their throne room. The eldest King, Burly, sat in the middle on a slightly higher throne, earned by his birthright. His sister Blabberwort sat on his left and his brother Bluebell sat on his right.

"Your highnesses," the wolf maiden bowed. "I bring you gifts." She set three identical wrapped boxes in front of them. They greedily tore them open and admired the shoes inside. The wolf maiden waited for them to put them on, and smiled with satisfaction as she saw that her informants were correct in the Royal shoe sizes.

"You highnesses, I have come to talk about the factory King Wendell has built on Troll lands."

"What about it?" Burly asked.

"It is an insult to you that he came to your kingdom to build his factory, polluting your lands even further. The reason he didn't build it in his kingdom is because he knew it would poison any place he put it. But troll lands belong to trolls. If you want a factory, build a factory. Don't let this king insult you with his."

"We've tried to attack the factory. It is well guarded."

"That was while your kingdom was divided. Now that your majesties wisely united together I can help you destroy the factory and show the strength of the trolls to all the other kingdoms."

"Why? What's in this for you?"

"I want to destroy Duke Lewis. He built the factory. I know its weaknesses. With ten of your best fighters, I can show everyone the might of the Troll Kingdom. First, you need to write a letter to King Wendell asking him to abandon the factory. Tell him you will let all his workers and guards peacefully leave your lands if he writes back and they leave within a fortnight."

"Trolls don't ask. They take! We don't write letters."

"You have to. You need to send an emissary with the letter. Your emissary cannot attack anyone or steal anything while they are in the 4th Kingdom. And you must deliver the letter. This shows the other kingdoms that you tried to be peaceful and that this issue is between you and Wendell. If you just attack the factory, Wendell can ask for help and no kingdom, not even the Troll Kingdom, can stand against all the others when they are united. But you don't have to worry. Wendell will not do what we ask. After he refuses, we will attack the factory and we will let one survivor return to the king to tell them of the Troll victory."

She turned to the other trolls in the room. "Trolls once held half of the 4thKingdom! They took it by strength!" The trolls cheered. "While the queen was scheming and betraying your king, the trolls marched across the land and conquered it! Only by the united kingdoms were you forced back to your lands. And then King Wendell decides to take advantage of you and steals your land to build his poisonous factory!" The room erupted with bloodlust battlecries.

She held out a parchment to the Royals. "This is the letter. Sign it, send an emissary to Wendell, and we can start the tournament to find the ten best trolls in the land."

"I am the best troll in the land," Burly snarled.

"I do not include your highnesses. Your skills are needed for war. I dare not take you on such a small battle. I need the next best fighters in the land."

"Of course. I knew that."

The three Royals signed the letter, sealed it, and sent it. Then they eagerly began planning the tournament.

"Who are you?" Blabberwort suddenly asked.

"Green-Tail."She turned to show the dyed tip of her wolf tail.

The Royals laughed and teased her for the rest of her stay, calling her Moss-fur, Weed-tail, and other names.

Most of the tournament was useless, but Green-Tail insisted that each troll be announced so she could keep track of the skillful ones. After the tournament, she announced the ten she wanted and began training them. She also sent orders for dark armor to be made very specially for the mission.

The emissary returned and told them that Wendell had laughed at him and threatened to cut off his head if he harmed anyone in his kingdom. The troll boasted to killing a family on the border, where the king could not catch him. It was time for Green-Tail and her trolls.

She held a bowl of black paint and walked down the line of her armored trolls. She painted their faces as she told them of the terrible fear they will create as they sneak from the shadows to destroy the workers and guards. How their victims will piss themselves when they silently appear beside them. In her words she reminded them of her stealth training which she knew was against all troll instincts to rush and hack. But it didn't matter. Even if the trolls forgot everything and attacked with a battlecry, they would be enough of a distraction for her to enter the factory and bring it down.

They took a loping pace through the bean stalks to the factory. They arrived a few hours before daybreak, and the cleared ground around the factory was lit with torches. She sent two to the left and two to the right to extinguish torches and draw attention from the rest as they entered the grounds. The trolls kept silent until they entered the living quarters and found sleeping workers. Then the bloodlust and chaos broke and battlecries and screams filled the air. Green-Tail entered the factory and planted her bombs and from the doorway cast her fire spells to ignite them. The factory collapsed and smoke and dust obscured everything. She almost ran into the troll leader.

"They didn't want the factory destroyed. They wanted the factory for themselves," he said.

"Too bad. There's a problem with trolls, anyway."

"What's that?"

Green-Tail leapt and slashed his throat with a concealed knife. "They're too predictable." She knew that the Royals had told him to kill her after the battle. She ran from the slaughter and out of the Troll Kingdom.


	2. Chapter 2

Wendell was furious when he heard the news.

"Since when are trolls tacticians?"

"My lord, there are reports that the trolls had help. The survivors say they saw a woman with them."

"A human? Who?"

"Some say it was a she-wolf."

Wendell sighed. He knew who it was. He hoped he was wrong. He even said a silent prayer that he was wrong. He didn't expect the survivors to be able to tell in the dim light and the chaos whether her tail was green, but he knew her even before she took to dying it. He knew her when she was toddling around the palace and he himself called her his little Mag-pie. Margaret Wolf, granddaughter to Duke Lewis. He flashed a look at Wolf and Tony and they bothered to look guilty.

"Send for the Captain of the Fangs."

While there were costs to his pardon for wolves twenty-so years ago, Wendell still believed the benefits were greater. He had stolen his step-mother's plan to create a secret police of them and to put Wolf at their head. Wolf had family cares but still trained the first members of the Fangs. Now Wolf was retired but still a royal consultant and member of the court. Captain Stefan knelt before the throne, his tail brushing the heel of his boot.

"Captain Stefan. I have a mission for you. It is…" he looked at Wolf, who was restraining himself from speaking. "…a delicate mission. One I trust with you alone." Wendell waited for Stefan to appreciate the honor.

"I am honored, my king."

"My factory in the Troll Kingdom was destroyed by what sounds to be an elite team of trolls led by a she-wolf. The wolf is a subject of ours and a threat to our properties. I need you to track her and bring her back alive for trial." Wolf let out a quiet sigh of relief that she would be captured and not killed, though he was still worried. As he should be. "If it is reasonable. Should she seriously danger your life or if there is a chance she could escape you, kill her. We will be grieved but we will understand. I remind you that this is a delicate mission and I expect you to be discreet."

"I understand my lord." Wendell saw that Stefan was in fact quite confused, but obedience was more important.

"Go."

Stefan found her trail at the factory. Rain and later visitors had obscured signs of the battle, but he could still read the field. He had dismissed the king's description of an elite team of trolls, but he read restraint in their footprints until they reached the living quarters. And he found her tracks into and out of the rubble of the factory. The stink of troll blood on her path threw him off, but once he decided that she had killed the troll, another curiosity if she was allied with them, he followed the smell until he picked up her tracks again and followed them out of the Troll Kingdom.

They led him into the Great Forest and for a couple days it was a little boring for Stefan. She had no fear of being tracked and made no attempt to conceal her path. Until her path crossed his from a few days ago. Both scents were equally old. As he had gone down this road on his way to the factory, she had sat in a tree and watched. He even found a few hairs in the bark, dyed green. They held her scent more strongly than the footprints and brushed foliage he had been following. He inhaled deeply, to commit her scent to memory. After he had passed her tree, she had climbed down and gone to the road. She had followed him for a mile until he went into the bushes to pee. Her tracks went to the same bush and then off into the trees away from him.

She had his scent now too. Stefan was no longer bored. After she had his scent, she went to great pains to conceal her tracks. He had to use every trick he knew to follow her. He was, in truth, the best tracker in the Fangs. After he became Captain, controversially because of his youth, he hadn't have the leisure to attend missions. So his tracking skills were a little rusty. Not that he minded a challenge. His instincts quickly refreshed themselves and he tried to catch up to her. Because everyone knows it takes more time and effort to conceal tracks than to find them. Usually.

Early on he thought he lost her trail. He crossed and recrossed a clearing, not sure how she had left it. Then he saw some green fur caught on a tree, a little higher than he expected her tail to swing and was suspicious he was being misled but it put him back on her trail. That happened a couple times. He would be close to losing her when he would see a green tuft where it shouldn't be. It wasn't long before he realized she was taunting him. Soon the frustration of her confusing trail was nothing to the irritation of finding that demeaning clue. He was determined to regain ground, but sometimes his haste made him lose the trail and no tuft anticipated him rushing ahead. Those setbacks upset him the most.

Night worried him. She could hide better than he could seek in the dark. But he had a good nose and could smell the tufts when he came to one of her lost spots. Night slowed him down but he slept only when he needed and kept going.

She almost had him.

He had been wondering for a while why he hadn't found a nest yet. As far as he could tell, she hadn't slept in three days. There were magical and medicinal ways to avoid it, but they had a price. Finally he found it. It reeked of her. She must have slept a long time to make up for the lack. And her trail away from the nest was twelve hours old. He was catching up. He was about to move on when he saw fresh bark lying on top of the forest litter. It was several feet away from any tree, but probably had fallen from a branch. He watched the wind blow through the trees in gusts and turned his back to the nest. He carefully waited for a gust to hit the branches above him and leapt to the side just as she pounced on him. She managed a side kick as she fell that knocked him over. They both scrambled to their feet and got a good look at each other.

It had been nearly a week since either of them had bathed and their bodies were strong with their personal odors. Neither had reached thirty and while Stefan was a little soft after a few years of being captain, they were both well formed and strong. Green-Tail had silky brown hair that escaped from her braid no matter how she tied it. Stefan had thick black hair and the beginnings of a beard. There was a hint of mutual attraction and respect.

"Clever. Your nest hid your fresh scent."

"What gave it away?"

"You tore bark off of the branch you jumped to when you climbed up."

She frowned. But her eyes glinted as she asked, "How did you like my little presents?"

Stefan snarled. "You think too highly of yourself. I easily followed you."

"That explains why I've been in this tree for six hours longer than I expected. I assumed Wendell would send his best scout."

"I am the best scout! And how dare you speak so familiar of the King."

Green-Tail smirked. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"I know you are an enemy of the 4th Kingdom. That's all I need to know." During the whole conversation, Stefan had been watching for an opening. He found one when she laughed and glanced aside. He lunged but she had feinted the opening and was ready.

Her knee clocked his jaw hard and it was a good thing his tongue was not between his teeth. She yanked one of his arms to throw him off balance and get him to the ground. They wrestled, his strength against her agility. When he thought he had her pinned, she would bend or twist and suddenly would be free and he was on the defensive. Considering they were tired in both mind and body, they were evenly matched and eventually acknowledged the stalemate.

He bent his knees as she leaned back from straddling his stomach and she let go of his limp arms. He reached for her arm and she swatted him aside with a tired blow. They both tried to catch their breath.

"Was it good for you?" she asked, laughing.

"Give me a few minutes, I can go again."

They chuckled and Green-Tail opened her jacket and loosened the collar of her shirt."I'm sweating so hard. How is it I haven't beat you yet?" She looked at him.

"You've been sitting in a tree for over six hours, senses tight. I've been sleeping. I'm more rested. How is it I haven't beat you yet?"

"Because I am amazing."

He laughed.

"For example, I not only trained trolls, but led them into a successful battle. Not even a Troll King can always say that."

"How did you manage it?"

"Trade secrets. I'll share one, though." She rubbed her collarbone and tugged at her shirt to get more airflow. "Something I got from the Troll Kingdom." The hand inside her shirt, the one at her collarbone, appeared with a small bag. He could smell it faintly, though the sweat from being inside her shirt had masked it until now.

"That'll only buy you a few hours," he warned.

"More than enough. It's been fun playing but I have business to attend to." She threw the bag at him and kicked up and away. He tried to catch it, but as his hand hit it, the bag unraveled and Troll Dust settled across his face and chest, knocking him out.

Green-Tail caught her breath and took up a loping pace toward the swamps.


	3. Chapter 3

Stefan was pissed now. He had been humiliated as a tracker, stalemated wrestling with what he considered a child, outwitted, and now he had a Troll Dust hangover. Luckily she was finished hiding her trail. It was a straight line for the swamps. If she thought the swamp odors would mask her, she was mistaken. But that didn't make sense, considering her tracking skills, and he realized what her next target was as the smell of smoke came to him on the breeze. He looked for a tall tree and climbed as fast as he could.

The swamp was on fire.

She'd destroyed the oil pump. Bright sparks flew through the air above the trees as the sprites tried to escape. He could see that the smoke and the bright light of the flames were blinding them. All manner of creatures tried to flee, but between the sucking muck of the swamp and the flames, few were able to escape. He saw the oil pump and the volcanic spray from its wreckage. Even if she wasn't killed igniting the oil… even if she knew her way through the swamp… even if she could see through smoke… the fire was spreading too fast. If she was alive, he knew she was trapped. But he didn't know how to help. He didn't know how he'd even find her, if she had become disoriented in the chaos.

Of course, all of this didn't occur to him. All he knew was that she was in danger and he needed to save her. He climbed out of the tree and ran toward the pump. He passed nasty wights and evil ghouls, but they were more concerned with getting away from the fire than in tricking him to death. A distracted sprite flew too close and he snatched it out of the air.

"Send me to the she-wolf!"

"Let go!"

"Send me to the she-wolf and I'll tell you which way to go!"

"Which way?"

He pointed back the way he came and she pointed at him. A green flash blinded him and then thick oil smoke choked him. Stefan bent over, coughing and eyes watering. He was nearly knee deep in water and he looked around for Green-Tail. All he saw was fire and water. He cursed the sprite and then saw two orange globes glowing in the pool in front of him. He backed out of the water and saw Green-Tail thrash to the surface gasping for air and blasting fire from her hands back down into the pool. The water boiled and Stefan saw hands clutch and then disappear into the pool. He reached to pull her out of the water and almost got a fireball to the face before she recognized him.

She had something on her face. "You've got leeches," he said.

"They can have it. Which way out?"

He pulled off the ones he could see and she yelped. "I don't know. I think we're still close to the pump."

A flaming tree started to fall. They pulled each other out of the way of its branches. Stefan looked around and thought he saw a constellation through the smoke where the tree had stood. He reoriented himself and pushed her. "This way."

"That's further into the swamp!"

"Trust me!"

Stefan used to know the swamp. Back when his landmarks weren't falling over and turning to char, when smoke didn't clog his nostrils. But he found it. He almost ran past it, but he recognized the Swamp Witch's hut. The roof was burning and a neighboring tree was leaning dangerously close. He pulled her toward the squat thing.

"You're crazy!" she shouted.

He yanked open the door and shoved her inside. Burning moss dripped between the rafters and Green-Tail hurriedly brushed them out of her hair and off her clothes. Stefan ran to the cellar and pulled open the door. "Get in!"

She dove down the stairs and hit the Swamp Witch's coffin with her left shoulder. Stefan climbed down and closed the heavy doors behind him. The air was cold and moldy, but clear.

"Are you alright?" she asked as he finished climbing down.

The question surprised him. "Uh, yeah. What about you?"

"Half drowned, but I think nothing worse than a few scratches. Will we be safe down here?" Green-Tail rubbed the shoulder that had struck the coffin and looked around.

"Safer than out there. This might end up being our tomb but our chances are a little better. And at least we'll have company."

Green-Tail turned to look at the mummy of the first evil stepmother and Stefan saw another leech on her neck, fat from blood. It came away easily when he pulled it. "We'd better find the rest of these," he said, showing her the leech.

She sighed and stripped down. After they removed the rest from her skin, they inspected her clothes thoroughly before she redressed. Green-Tail tried to watch Stefan without him noticing while he tried to look at her without her noticing while she was undressed. They both failed. But he didn't gape rudely or touch her more than he had to while he pulled off the leeches, and she didn't scold him for glancing.

There was a crash from above and the boards between the hut and the cellar started to smoke. They moved back to the part of the cellar underground the swamp and leaned against the damp peat.

"How did you find me?"

"I told you I was the best scout in the 4th Kingdom."

Green-Tail looked at him skeptically. "No one's that good."

Stefan smiled. "I am." He cleared his throat and became serious. "You realize that you're under arrest and I will take you back to the palace."

"I know."

"And I've been given permission to be forceful if you try to escape."

"I won't try to escape."

"They all say that."

"Do they? How many prisoners are given that option? I wouldn't think it comes up in conversation, normally."

"Of course you're going to try to escape. I can't trust you when you say you won't."

"I won't. Now that the pump's been destroyed and the oil set on fire, I'm done. Now I need to talk to the king."

"You're going to go on trial as a threat to the kingdom. You're going to hang."

"But not before I get to speak. And maybe now they'll listen."

"Can I trust you?" Stefan asked.

Green-Tail looked back at him. "As much as I can trust you. So, who do I owe my life and death to?"

"Captain Stefan Redpaw of King Wendell's Fangs."

"I figured you were a Fang. Any male wolf under the age of fifty wants to be a Fang."

"It's a high honor. And we want to prove we are more than animals."

"I know, I know. I know all about Fang pride."

"What about you? You look down on Fangs, you ally with trolls, you destroy royal property… Anarchist? Do you yearn for the days of chaos and black magic?"

"My name is Green-Tail. Have you heard of me?"

Stefan shook his head.

Green-Tail snorted in disgust. "He doesn't even respect me enough to warn his guards about me. I told Wendell that I couldn't let him and Duke Lewis destroy the nine kingdoms. And he didn't think I could do anything about it. Typical."

"He knew you were going to destroy the factory and the oil pump?"

"No. And I did talk to him several years ago, but still. When someone threatens you, you should at least tell other people."

"That's childish."

"And now the swamp's on fire. Who's childish now?"

"Why would you do that? You've killed… I don't know… hundreds of creatures. That doesn't seem like you."

"You don't know me."

"You're right," Stefan said thoughtfully, "I don't." He felt comfortable around her. He knew his guard was down and she could take advantage of him, but somehow he trusted that she wouldn't run away or attack him. The floor under the hut collapsed and some flaming rubble settled into the cellar. But the cellar held, and most of the hut had already burned away.

"I was getting a little cold." Green-Tail cautiously moved closer to the fire.

"It'll use up all our air."

"No, the hut's all gone. There's enough airflow. We're okay. This was a good idea."

Stefan sat and tried not to think of what he hoped she'd say. How she'd say it. While he was at it, he avoided looking at her. He was too worried about the cellar collapsing to sleep, but not worried enough to leave. So he sat there, not thinking of anything.

Green-Tail had her own conflict. She should despise the blind, deaf, and dumb servant of King Wendell sent to arrest her, but she couldn't. When he'd helped her out of the pool of drowning bodies, she had been relieved. Though now, she wondered if her relief was at seeing him again or in being helped out of the water.

The wood that fell down burned out and Green-Tail could see smoke wafting past a blue sky. "I think we're safe," she said.

They weren't the words Stefan had been hoping against, but she sat close next to him. "We ought to sleep while we wait for the fires to burn down."

Stefan tensed when their bodies touched. He swallowed and, to distract himself, said, "I know your parents didn't dye your tail when you were born. What's your real name?"

Green-Tail caught a whiff of his pheromones and asked, "Do you need me to sleep on the other side?"

"Please."

Without judgment, she stood and lay down on the far side of the coffin. Mummies didn't bother her, and neither did male-wolves.

Stefan ran his hair between his fingers. It didn't make sense. None of this made any sense. She was a murdering convict and she wasn't even all that good looking. She was attractive, but not enough to distract him. Or she shouldn't. She wasn't even trying to seduce him in order to escape. She said she wouldn't leave him, and he knew she wouldn't. Somehow he just knew.

Green-Tail was also confused. Why had she sat next to him? She'd wanted to fall asleep against him. And if one thing had led to another… She actually felt disappointed that they were sleeping apart. From what she'd smelled on him when she got up, he was more than willing, as far as his body was concerned. But he was grateful she left. And she shouldn't even be thinking this way about the man who arrested her. She sighed in frustration at herself, a little louder than she intended.

They rested, if not slept, for several hours and then carefully climbed out of the Witch's cellar. Anything covered in oil still burned and the swamp was a hot, mucky wasteland of charred vegetation. Trees and branches stuck out like black ribs. Water was deceptively deep, and the fallen trees were deceptively hot. They had to move carefully and slow, and what could have taken one long afternoon found them forced to make camp with several miles left to go.


	4. Chapter 4

Neither spoke much during the journey to the palace. They were both lost in their own thoughts.

Green-Tail decided there was an uncomfortable amount of comfortableness between them. He'd take her hand as she climbed over some trees and they would forget to let go for a quarter mile. When he realized he was still holding her hand, he let go and that was when she would realize they had been touching. Unnaturally natural, she also thought. But it'll be over soon. I'll be dead a few days after we reach the palace. But then shouldn't she take advantage of her last night unchained and with a handsome male-wolf? She shook her head. Opportunity isn't a good enough reason. She didn't even know him.

Stefan was still wrestling with being attracted to a criminal. At protecting her when he knew she was doomed. What should it matter if she burns her hand today when in a few days she'll be hanging by her neck? He tried to justify it that the king would want her in good health, but that reasoning seemed a little weak to him.

They had scrounged some burnt carcasses as they travelled and had snacked as they walked, saving some for dinner. Green-Tail carefully shifted some hot wood into a pile and coaxed it to flame with a small spell, then spitted the two rabbits and the wood gnome.

"I say we each get a rabbit and we split the gnome. They tend to taste a little swampy to me."

"Who are you?" Stefan burst out. "Nothing you've done makes any sense."

"And knowing my name will help?"

"It'll start. You have to have reasons why you destroyed the swamp. You're a wolf! There is one kingdom, of all the nine, who accept wolves. And we still fight a lot of prejudice. They all think we're evil and uncontrollable killing machines. For twenty years we've worked against that, to prove we can be trusted, and you attack the one man who's trying to defend our people. Are you trying to justify everyone's fears? And not only that, but you destroy one of the largest havens we have in this kingdom! I wouldn't be surprised if this fire spread to the Great Forest, and all of us will have no where else to go but the cities. And that's just a recipe for disaster. I can't believe that's what you want. It… No true wolf deserving the name would act like you do."

Green-Tail sprang to her feet, her eyes blazing. "Only a true wolf would do what I have done. Don't talk to me about what wolves have done to deserve their place in this kingdom. That place was given to you as a reward for the acts my father performed for the king. If it weren't for him, we would be despised openly everywhere. But a true wolf would risk anything to protect their land. And I claim all the nine kingdoms as mine. I spit on every creature, wolf or man, who would obey a king who poisons his lands and his neighbor's lands for greed and lust for power. That oil is used to create plastic and machines that have no place in this world. That factory did more harm to the Troll Kingdom than those beanstalks ever did. The beanstalks are at least natural. They don't pollute the whole world. That factory's poison would spread. In the land it would taint the ground water. The ground water feeds the streams and taint plants and animals miles away. Lakes and rivers and then to the ocean. The smog spreads in the winds and poisons the rain that falls from it.

"And Wendell wasn't going to stop at one factory. My grandfather has plans for thousands of machines. Wendell is going to dominate this continent with technology stolen from the 10th Kingdom. And that world is struggling to survive because it has polluted itself for so long. That world is choking on its technology. Technology that came naturally to it. That was created one idea at a time, not stolen from another world.

"My grandfather hates magic and would like nothing more than to replace it with machines. Magic makes you pay for its benefits, and he doesn't see that when he uses artificial medicines or sterilized needles, that the process to create them makes someone else pay for its benefits. But he doesn't care about someone else. Wendell doesn't care about the Troll Kingdom. It only feeds into the Great Lake. It only is connected to everyone else the way everyone is connected. He only sees power."

It was an old argument but she had hope with a new audience. She got worked up and her eyes flashed gold. He thought she was magnificent. Whatever was going on, she believed in it fully. She finished her rant on the evils of technology and as she waited for him to say something, he realized that he loved her. Illogically. He couldn't handle what felt like the loss of his good sense and he left the fire to take a walk.

The way he left without a word deflated Green-Tail. Another one who didn't believe her. She tended the meat and ate her share without tasting it. When he returned, she lay down with her back to him. He decided it was for the best. He didn't want to get too attached to her before she was killed.

The next morning, she ignored him and walked ahead. They cleared the boundaries of the fire damaged swamp and were able to pick up their pace until they reached the White Avenue that led to the palace.

When it came into sight, they paused.

"You don't have to," Stefan said.

"I'm not running away."

"You wouldn't be running away if I let you go."

Green-Tail stared at him while he shifted his weight awkwardly.

"I just… I don't want to see you die. Just because you don't know how to change something without destroying it. Your heart is in the right place."

"How can you say that? You're not just a soldier, you're a Fang."

He swallowed and said, "If you ask me, I'll let you go."

And that was when Green-Tail knew she loved him.

"Come on, I don't want to miss supper in the dungeons."

They marched into the palace together. They were treated like visitors while the King was at his supper. A page informed him that Stefan was in a waiting room, and assuming he was alone, the King ordered that he be fed until Wendell could see him.

Stefan and Green-Tail ate porkchops and vegetable stew and bread. They didn't have much appetite but Green-Tail forced herself to gorge.

The King entered the waiting room and was disgusted at the strong smell of oily smoke, swamp and sweat.

"Alright, Stefan, how did she get away?" Wendell asked before he recognized her.

Stefan bowed his head, but Green-Tail inclined hers defiantly.

"Why isn't she in chains and in my dungeons?"

"She didn't need chains. And she wished to speak to you."

Wendell sighed. "What have you gotten yourself into, Margaret?"

"I told you I would stop you."

"You've only slowed progress and killed my subjects. What do you have to say before I have you arrested properly?"

"I have nothing to say that you haven't heard before. I'll save my words for my trial."

"Very well. Guards!"

She was grabbed roughly and dragged to the dungeon even though she wasn't struggling, only trying to keep her feet.

Wendell watched how Stefan reacted to her rough treatment.

"I imagine this was hard for you, Stefan. To arrest another wolf. I want you to know I appreciate your diligence and obedience. I sent you because you are the best and I knew I could trust you. I heard she's an excellent tracker. Did that make it hard for you to find her?"

"It wasn't too difficult, your highness."

"Was she the one to destroy my oil pump?"

"I didn't actually see her do it, but I'm sure it was her."

"You did a good job. Take a few days off."

"Your highness? When is her trial to be?"

"I haven't decided. You are dismissed."

Stefan went to the dungeon. He wanted to make sure she wasn't chained too tightly or that her room was dry and rat-free. He found her as there was one cell he could not access.

"Royal orders. She's to have no visitors," the guards said.

Stefan thought he remembered it was dry, but he hadn't been in the maximum security cell very often. In fact, he wasn't sure if it had been used before.

One his way to his rooms, he stopped on a balcony on the same side of the palace as she and howled.

The palace was full of Fangs who took up their Captain's howl and he was sad they drowned her out. If she'd even heard him. As the howls dispersed, he heard one faint voice linger, as clear as silver moonlight.


	5. Chapter 5

The Fangs were housed in a ground wing closest to the forest. King Wendell had built a door from the wing into a courtyard, and another gate into the palace wall so the Fangs could easily enter the forest. Some argued against having such easy access into the palace, but once the Fangs had been trained they left the gate unlocked, daring anyone to infiltrate the palace through the place where the Fangs trained, ate, and slept. The entrances were always guarded by Fangs, except for the day before and after the full moon, when a small squad from the palace took over while the Fangs were out with the full moon.

Despite common fears, when half-wolves have regular contact with the moon, they can reasonably restrain themselves. Most property damage and animal death can be pointed back to rabid wolves or half-wolf prisoners released after several moons of captivity. But the Fangs had regular exercise and the king provided a small flock of sheep just outside the Fang gate for them to worry. The full moon was a romp more than anything, but peasants were warned against going into the King's Forest during the full moon. Playing with wolves could be deadly.

Stefan was worried about the full moon approaching. After a week there had been no talk of a trial or an execution to take place before the romp and he was ready to ask the King that she be released into the Fang's custody during the full moon.

He tried to visit her but still no one was permitted to visit her. He found her father outside the dungeon.

"I'm her father!" Wolf shouted. "He must have said family can see her. I don't want to go inside her cell, I just want to make sure she's alright."

"I'm sorry sir. The King was clear."

Wolf growled and turned away. "You! You arrested her."

Stefan swallowed. "Yes, sir." Not only was Wolf Green-Tail's father and his distress was intimidating enough, but he was also Stefan's hero. Stefan had only been a cadet while Wolf was training the first Fangs, but he always remembered the tall imposing man who held his animal nature in check.

"Tell me," Wolf put his arm around Stefan's shoulders and led him away from the dungeon, "how hard was it for you to find her?" Wolf's eyes gleamed merrily.

"Very hard, sir."

Wolf took Stefan back to his quarters and made Stefan give him a full account of the chase. Wolf laughed at the tricks his daughter had played. When the story was over, Wolf sat and thought.

"She wanted to be caught," he said.

"Or she was cocky. She assumed she'd be able to take me out at the ambush."

"No, she always meant to use the troll dust on you. Her plan worked perfectly. But why?"

"Don't you know?"

Wolf shook his head. "She's always argued against Tony's industrial revolution. She was more or less banished to the 10th Kingdom a few years ago and she came back about a month ago. She told us she was visiting some friends right before we found out about what she'd done to the factory. She could have escaped you. She should have waited before attacking the oil pump. And she didn't try to escape?"

"No. I didn't even cuff her. She came willingly, after the pump was destroyed."

"Why?"

"She did say something about speaking at the trial and hoping people would listen to her. She lectured me and she's very persuasive. Is it true, what she says about the factory poisoning all the kingdoms?"

"That's stuff she learned in the 10th Kingdom. I don't know if it's true, but I've heard it enough times to know what she thinks will happen."

"Is there any way the king will let her live?"

Wolf shrugged. "In a way, our family is powerful. He has to be careful not to upset us too much. Tony doesn't like what she's done, but she's still his granddaughter, and Virginia can sway him if she gets upset. Tony could refuse to help him with his revolution. And I have some pull with the Fangs, unless they think I'm too old…"

"Oh, no sir. There are some of us who are, if you'll pardon me, more loyal to you than to the king. You've done so much and given us our lives."

"So Wendell needs to handle this very politically. Even so, a father has a right to see his daughter!" Wolf shouted and marched from the room to the audience chamber. He was stopped by the guards. "Let me in!"

"Not until you've calmed down, sir."

Wolf took a step back and smoothed his hair and straightened his jacket. Stefan was right behind him. "Okay, I'm calm."

"I'm sorry, sir. You have to wait another five minutes. Those are the rules."

Wolf growled and betrayed his nerves. He was not calm at all. He grabbed a page."Tell the king I need an audience." He shoved the scared little boy past the guards.

The boy came back, trembling. "He says no."

Wolf snarled and stormed off. Stefan let him go and approached the guards alone. They let him pass. Wendell saw him enter and hurriedly ended his audience with a courtier's mother and declared the audiences over for the day and rushed out the back door. Stefan knew better than to try to follow. He went back to the Fangs and ordered a new posting. He stationed a Fang outside the dungeons and another inside each business room. He was to be instantly notified if Green-Tail was moved or if the king made any announcement regarding her sentence. Then he went back to work as captain, but he was still very distracted.

Every night he led a howl, answered by that silvery voice.


	6. Chapter 6

The Fangs joked about how their captain was bewitched by a prisoner. They stopped joking when he only became more distracted as the days passed. One lieutenant tried to give him perspective.

"There are plenty of women, Captain. You shouldn't get worked up over an enemy of the realm. She's just a piece of tail, in the end." The lieutenant was on the ground with a bloody nose before either of them knew what happened. Stefan rubbed his knuckles and apologized. The lieutenant was so shocked that he didn't say anything as Stefan walked away.

Rumors flew about the couple. Fangs whispered more earnestly about their captain's bewitchment. Courtiers gave sidelong glances at Stefan and wondered what he'd done to bring her in so meekly. "He wouldn't need to chain me up, either," one girl said.

The day before the full moon, Stefan finally met with the King. "I would like permission to take Green-Tail out for the full moon under custody of the Fangs."

"Permission denied."

Stefan blustered. "But-"

Wendell stood from the throne and shouted, "You wolves think it is your right to run around under the full moon. I have seen what you do. It is a holiday every month. She is a prisoner. She is being punished. It will not kill her to miss one night of festivity."

"It's not a holiday-"

"And she is going to stay in the dungeon until I say otherwise."

"But-"

"If I hear another word about Margaret Lewis from your lips, I will throw you in a cell and you can miss out on your little holiday as well."

Stefan held his tongue and left to find Wolf.

"How can he even expect to hold her down there when the moonlust hits her?"

The blood drained from Wolf's face and he had to sit.

"What is it?" Stefan asked.

"Before we officially formed the Fangs, Wendell had me help design a special cell for rabid wolves. It's completely enclosed. No moonlight and the airflow is from the castle, not outside. You can smell what the king shat before you could smell a dead elk from the forest. And perfectly smooth on the inside, nothing to grab. No chance of escape, even under moonlust." He leaned his head in his hands."I went without the moon for over a year while I was at Snow White Memorial Prison. But I could see her light. I could smell the outside. It made me rabid for a few moons after I got out, but… I've been careful with my girls. They've never been without a moon. I taught them how to keep it under control. I know she was careful while she was in the 10thKingdom, but I am very sure this will be her first time locked away during a full moon. And I would not wish anyone into that cell, even if they were rabid."

"Why didn't we ever see you and your family during the full moon?"

"My girls were so young, I didn't want them to see grown Fangs in moonlust. We would travel to a little cottage for the full moon."

"And now that they're grown?"

"Only the twins were wolves like me. Gregory is a fine hunter, but he can't smell and he was born without a tail. He wishes he were a half wolf and if he found a fairy powerful enough, he might become one, but he took after his mother. Margaret and Christine are my pups."

"Lady Christine?" Stefan was shocked. "I had no idea she was a wolf."

"She's not, anymore. Exactly. When she came of age, she had surgeons in the 10th Kingdom remove her…" Wolf took a deep breath. Stefan was horrified. Why would anyone choose to stop being a wolf?

"And she doesn't feel moonlust anymore?"

"Not as far as I can tell. I have a son who wishes he was a wolf, and a daughter who wishes she wasn't. She's a perfectly respectable young woman, now. I wonder if she's ashamed to have me as a father."

"No one would, sir."

"Thank you. Come on, we should get out there before things get out of hand."

"I don't know if I can enjoy the moonlight while she's locked up down there."

"Maybe not, but the moon has ways of soothing our nerves."

The Fangs were honored for Wolf to join them and let him lead the chase. The poor sheep were worried and hassled until a few died of heart failure, and then the rest were torn apart. Wolf howled, sad and angry and fierce. The rest of the pack joined him and they ran through the forest. At one point, Wolf cornered Stefan and snarled.

Stefan was frustrated and needed an outlet. He felt deference to Wolf, but when Wolf charged, he couldn't back down. They play-fought, inflicting minor wounds but mostly discharging energy and displaying dominance. Stefan knocked Wolf down and stood over him. They panted, tongues lolling and Wolf lifted his chin in submission. Stefan smacked his shoulder and helped him up. They rejoined the others.

At dawn, they made their exhausted way back to the palace.

"Sorry about that, sir," Stefan said.

"Don't be. And call me Wolf. I'd rather get knocked down by a young wolf than have someone go easy on me. It was a good romp."

Some slept in the woods, but others knew a hearty meal waited in the Fang's dining hall and went to feed before falling into their beds. Fangs were useless the day after a full moon and didn't return to their duties until the following morning.


	7. Chapter 7

When they left the treeline, they saw a carriage waiting between the forest and the gate to the palace.

"Whose is that?" Wolf shaded his eyes from the morning sun.

A noblewoman left the carriage and ran toward them. "Father!" she called out.

"Christine?" Wolf shouted and started to run. Stefan followed close behind.

"Father, get in the carriage."

"What happened?"

"He sentenced Maggie to the stocks without a guard."

"What?"

The three of them climbed in and Christine shouted, "Drive!"

Sitting across from them, Stefan could see the resemblance between Christine and her father that he hadn't noticed before. Both had thick black hair that flowed from their faces and bright eyes. Christine's eyes pierced him. "Who is this?"

"Captain Stefan."

She gave him a knowing look and turned to her father. "King Wendell called an emergency council at dawn. He brought Maggie in straight from the dungeon. It was horrible. She was still recovering from her moonlust last night and was hardly coherent. I think he even fed her a live rabbit or something before bringing her up. She had blood all over her but she didn't seem hurt. She looked monstrous. The council condemned her for her crimes and she wasn't able to speak in her defense. And then the king sentenced her to two weeks in the stocks with no guard. Mother and Greggie are trying to hold back the crowds alone."

"That bastard! He won't kill her, but he'll scare the public into doing it for him," Wolf said.

The carriage got bogged down by the crowd two blocks from the executioner's square. Wolf and Stefan climbed out and then Stefan turned back to Christine. "Go back to the Fangs and tell them I need a squad to come here."

"But-"

"Just do it!" Stefan worked his way through the crowd to the square.

Wolf snarled and snapped his way and was the first to reach the stocks. Greg was holding back a group armed with rocks with his sword, and Virginia was fighting a man who tried to get to Greg from behind. She looked so fierce as she defended her children, that Wolf fell in love with her all over again. He pounced on the man and Virginia turned to another group edging from the other side.

After beating him senseless, Wolf helped Greg scare the rock throwers back into the crowd. Stefan finally pushed himself through and went straight to Maggie. Her hair was matted and rabbit blood covered her hands and face and stained the front of her shirt. He brushed her hair from her face and she flinched. She was slightly delirious from the rough night and the noise of the crowd. A rock struck his shoulder and he turned to snarl at the crowd.

The two wolves were exhausted but put up a show, and the two armed humans kept the crowd from rushing Maggie, but bolder people with good aim were able to throw food and rocks from further back. They held up for over half an hour before a squad of the freshest Fangs arrived, washed and in full uniform.

The Fangs stationed a threatening perimeter and the crowd lost a lot of its nerve. Some spectators left, not willing to risk the Fangs' wrath and some stayed to watch in case anyone attacked the Fangs. Another rock was thrown and a sharp-eyed Fang entered the crowd to beat the thrower. That intimidated a lot of people and more left to go home. A few more braved the Fangs but the spirit had left the mob and the immediate danger to Maggie had passed.

Stefan thanked the Fangs and joined the family around Maggie. Virginia was inspecting her daughter.

"Greg, take this and get a bucket, fresh water, a rag and some bread." She handed him some money and went back to soothing Maggie. "She looks dehydrated."

"Wendell won't like seeing the Fangs here," said Wolf.

"That's my problem, not yours," said Stefan.

"Who is this?" Virginia asked.

Maggie certainly took after her mother. Virginia pushed stray strands of brown hair back behind her ears.

"Captain Stefan," he introduced himself.

"The wolf who arrested my daughter?" she accused.

Wolf defended him. "The wolf who brought her in."

"Still. What are you doing here?"

The question rang in his head. What was he doing here? He had been acting without thinking. He had held back a mob to defend a convict. He had ordered his men to defend a convict. Why? Because she was tried unfairly? Because she was the daughter of his hero? The truth lurked in the shadow of his heart, but he didn't admit to it just yet.

"I don't know," he answered.

"It looks like I underestimated wolves' loyalty."

Greg returned with the bucket and bread. Wolf took him back out to buy food for the Fangs who guarded Maggie. They had missed their breakfast and he had heard their stomachs growling.

First Virginia scooped water into her hands for Maggie to drink. Then she washed the blood from her skin. Stefan picked up the bread and fed her small pieces. After a while Maggie regained her senses and pulled her head away from his hand.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm helping."

"Honey?" Virginia entered Maggie's field of vision.

"Mommy?" Maggie started to cry.

"Oh, sweetheart." Virginia awkwardly tried to hug her daughter around the stocks. In the end she stroked Maggie's face and wrapped her other arm around Maggie's back."Your proud spirit got you into trouble."

Greg and Wolf returned and the Fangs inhaled the cold meats and bread.

"Hey, she's awake," Greg said. "How's the head? I think a rock clocked you earlier."

"Everything hurts. I didn't even notice."

"I'm sorry about last night, Kiddo," Wolf said.

"Last night wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was."

Maggie shook her head at him, as much as she could. "So," she said, flapping her hands in the armholes, "the stocks, huh? I don't remember a trial."

"It was a farce," Virginia spat.

"How long?"

"Two weeks. No guards."

Maggie mentally digested that.

Meanwhile the carriage returned and Christine descended with a package.

"Wow. I should have been arrested a long time ago. It brings the whole family together."

"Maggie!" Virginia scolded.

"I brought clothes and a hairbrush," Christine announced.

"Why? I'm going to be very rank after two weeks whether I change my clothes now or later."

"I brought you a skirt so you can relieve yourself in private."

"Oh." Maggie had more about two weeks in the stocks to consider. She'd never seen someone there for more than a day, so she never thought about relieving herself on a platform in the public square. "Thanks."

"First you need to get changed into it. Don't thank me for that."

"I'll take care of it," said Virginia, untying the bundle. "I'm her mother, and if I can change in the high school locker room without anyone seeing my underwear, I can get my daughter into a skirt without showing her dignity."

"Mom…" Maggie started to blush and looked at all the people standing around.

"Lift your legs." Virginia helped Maggie get the skirt up and then took off her boots and pants from inside.

"I don't know about your shirt," Virginia said when she was finished.

"I do," Christine held up a blanket, shears and a sleeveless corset.

"Wow. The queen of fashion has a prisoner line. Who knew?"

"Maggie," said Wolf.

Christine stiffened at the jab, and Maggie was embarrassed by everyone standing around. "I'm sorry, Christie. You saved my dignity. Thank you. You are a genius, by the way."

Christine nodded and helped her mother change Maggie's shirt.

Maggie wasn't used to being so humbled so thoroughly. She couldn't even apologize privately anymore. Two weeks in the stocks. She needed help if she was going to simply survive, to be fed and given water. And also for any comforts or else she would bake in the sun, freeze in the night, and have two weeks of refuse at her feet.

The thought of being helpless for even basic needs was almost worse than the threat by the crowds. She looked up and saw people still milling around past the semi-circle of protective Fangs. Without which, she would have probably been stoned to death by now.

After she was comfortably put in the soft corset, Virginia finished rag-washing her and Christine gently brushed the mats out of Maggie's hair. The men stood and talked quietly.

"What are they saying about me?" Maggie asked them. "The people. What do they think happened?"

Greg answered. "You attacked the factory with an army of trolls and killed everyone, and then you blew up the oil pump, killing everything in the swamp. They say that you're a saboteur, murderer, and enemy of the realm."

"I can't reach your wrists," Virginia apologized.

A palace guard approached Stefan. "King Wendell demands the Fangs disperse and that you accompany me back to the palace."

Stefan pointed at the Fangs. "Stay here until I say otherwise. I'll be right back."

After he left, Christine said, "He's certainly handsome."

Maggie replied too casually, "I hadn't noticed."

The women burst into giggles.

"Is there something between you two?" Virginia asked.

"There must be. He ordered his Fangs to stay despite the king's orders." Christine said. "And you should hear the things they say in court about how he brought you in."

"Nothing happened. I came quietly, so he didn't cuff me."

"You came quietly? How disappointing."

Maggie gawked. "That's NOT what I meant."

"I'm surprised that the wild child is more prudish than the courtier," Christine teased.

"There isn't much opportunity for that sort of thing when you're running through the woods by yourself."

"Mm, you miss out on so much. New guards, noble sons…. But you say absolutely nothing happened with that Captain? Whyever not?"

"I was busy with other things."

"You should never be so busy you can't have a little fun with a slab of meat like that."

"Oh, I had fun with him," Maggie said, grinning. She told how she led him on a merry chase through the woods. Virginia and Wolf exchanged glances during the story. That sort of chase was usually considered foreplay between wolves. She ended the story when she knocked him out with the troll dust.

"And that's fun for you?" Christine asked. She rolled her bright eyes and looked at her sister with sympathy.


	8. Chapter 8

"It was fun for me. Because he's my mate."

Her father knelt in front of her. "Sweetie, you've been through a lot. I heard about what happened in the swamp and it's exciting to be in danger with someone but… just because he's the first wolf you've met doesn't make him your mate."

"Dad! He's not the first wolf I've met. He's not even my first love. But I know. I felt it the moment I saw him. How did you know Mom was your mate? Even when she fought it?"

Wolf struggled to put words to the indescribable.

"Exactly. It was hard for me to finish my mission, knowing I would have to leave him. I was glad he caught me again and not just because he saved my life. And I wish he wasn't the Captain of the Fangs because I can ruin his reputation. I don't even care if he loves me or not, and I can go on without him. But he's my mate, even if I'm not his and it's nice to know who holds my heart."

The guarding Fangs couldn't pretend they didn't hear that and only their strict training kept them from gossiping about it on the spot. But raised eyebrows promised plenty of talk later on.

"Maggie…" Virginia said, "maybe he feels the same about you."

"He did save your life. Twice," Christine added. She stood up from where she'd been sitting on the platform and brushed dirt from her dress. "Since you're out of immediate danger and I have a better version of the story now, I'm going back to court to spread some gossip. That should help turn the public's opinion of you. Give it a couple days to filter into the masses, though. Kisses."

"You should go too. You look ready to fall over. Go get some sleep," Virginia told Wolf.

"I'll just lay down here."

"We'll be talking and keep you up. Go on. We'll send for you if we need you."

Wolf pulled Virginia aside. "Did I tell you how beautiful you looked with that sword? Fighting a hundred men to keep your baby safe?"

"And you were a wolf god springing out of nowhere, all teeth and fur."

They kissed for a while and then Wolf went to the Fang's barracks to sleep.

Greg and Virginia kept Maggie company.

Stefan entered the audience chamber and many courtiers gasped at his appearance.

Wendell said in a stern voice, "You dare approach me in such a manner?"

Stefan looked down at his clothes. They were covered in sheep's blood, mud, and forest litter and torn in places. His hair was wild and his skin was dirty.

"My apologies," Stefan bowed low. "Last night was the full moon and I came as soon as you bid."

The courtiers made low murmurs. Few had seen moonlusting wolves and they all guessed at the violent games the wolves played in the night. Some were repulsed, some were attracted, and some were envious.

Wendell continued despite Stefan's appearance. "What do you mean by stationing Fangs at the stockade? I ordered that there would be no guard."

"I thought I could supply them for you." Stefan was tired, but the moon had passed enough for his mind to think clearly.

"I didn't mean I was not going to post guards. I ordered that she be unguarded. Your Fangs are violating my orders."

"They are obeying my orders. I misunderstood. I shall tell them they can only volunteer to guard her."

"No. The Fangs are forbidden from the stockade."

"You can't forbid them from spending their free time where they choose. As long as the stockade is public, they can go there off duty."

Wendell stared him down. "I don't want to see a single uniformed Fang at the stockade for the duration of her sentence. All Fang duties will be fulfilled or there will be consequences. And you," he said, pointing at Stefan, "are part of my personal guard for the next two weeks. Go change into a clean uniform and be back here within the hour."

Stefan bowed and returned to the Fang's barracks. He woke his lieutenants and told them he could not order them to guard Maggie but it would mean a lot if they volunteered.

"Captain, she's a convict now. Why are you angering the King over a felon?"

"I have less than an hour, I don't have time to talk but she convinced me that she means well. Any who want to hear her, go and listen to her. If you still think she's wrong, fine. But if you believe her, please protect her."

Roderick Silvereye, his second lieutenant, was put in charge while he washed and dressed. He gulped a large mug of coffee and thought of the long day ahead of him.

"You ought to be sleeping off last night," Roderick said.

"He played a nasty trick. She should have had a proper trial and the chance to defend herself. Listen to her. Please."

"Yes, sir."

A group of Fangs left to tell the stationed ones to leave. The ones who had heard her confess her love for Stefan told the newcomers about it before they left. Some decided to change into their casual clothes and return immediately. The newcomers stayed to listen to her side of the story.

Maggie was surprised to be asked why she attacked the factory and the oil pump, but she started telling them about pollution and stolen technology. Passerbys heard her and stopped to listen and before she knew it, she'd gathered a crowd and was preaching the ills of Wendell's plan.

She certainly held more credibility sober, clean, and groomed. Even and Virginia and Greg, who'd heard it all countless times were caught up in the energy.

She convinced many of the Fangs that she was not an anarchist and they sympathized with their Captain, whom they loved almost as much as they loved Wolf. They scheduled their freetime to guard the daughter of their hero, the mate of their Captain, and their true wolf-sister.


	9. Chapter 9

Wendell stayed up very late, feeling a grim satisfaction as he watched Stefan fight sleep and frustration. Before the king fell asleep in his own chair, he called it a night and released Stefan.

"I expect you to be back here at dawn," he said as Stefan left.

Stefan didn't even change his clothes. He went straight to the stockade, took off his uniform jacket, and collapsed at Maggie's feet.

Maggie was stiff from the stockade and ached from her time imprisoned during the full moon the night before. She'd spent the whole day bent over and being unable to move was excruciatingly uncomfortable and made sleep almost impossible. It was past dark as she tried to shift her head in a way she could fall asleep when Stefan arrived.

"Stefan? Are you alright?" she asked, alarmed at the way he seemed to fall over.

He rolled onto his back and looked up at her. "How can you ask me if I'm alright?"

"You collapsed. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I should be asking you that question."

Maggie had a growing list of complaints, but he looked completely exhausted and she didn't feel like burdening him.

"I'm alright. Mother tied three or four shawls on so I should be warm until morning." She wondered how tired she would need to be to fall asleep in the stocks. At least it was more comfortable to be looking down at him than trying to look up at her family when they stood before her. "Thank you for sending your men." Gratitude had never been easy for her, but she was getting a lot of practice.

"They volunteered."

"Not at first. I saw the uniforms."

They watched each other in the torchlight.

"You look exhausted," she said.

"I am," he admitted. "So do you."

"I'll go to sleep if you do."

"In a minute."

They continued to look at each other, oddly content. Stefan's eyes were heavy and watching him fight his eyelids made Maggie drowsy. She shifted her legs to a balance point, hung her head down and they fell asleep together.

Maggie woke up with a cramp in her back. She grunted and bent her legs to try to relieve it and woke Stefan.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing. Sorry. Go back to sleep."

Stefan sat up. "What is it?"

Maggie squirmed. "My back is cramping."

Stefan climbed up and rubbed her back.

"Lower," she told him.

He massaged her tight muscles and admired the way her skirt hung from her body.

"Thanks," she said.

He kept massaging and his hands became more sensual. She arched her back and sighed.

"I hate this thing," she said. "I already wish he'd killed me instead."

"Don't say that." Stefan sat in front of her. "There's something I need to tell you."

"You're my mate, too."

Stefan laughed and shook his head. He laughed again and bounced up to kiss her.

"Ow, ow. Keep them short. I don't have any room to move," she complained.

"It's not exactly easy for me either." Stefan craned his neck and crouched to get to her level. "When did you know?" he asked.

"When did it start or when did I figure it out?"

"Both."

"It started when I saw you on your way to the factory. You looked so confident and handsome. I hoped you were sent after me. I figured it out after the king summoned you this morning. What about you?"

"It started when I was tracking you and you kept leaving those tufts of your tail as clues. You drove me mad. And when we met, you belonged to me. I had trouble fighting it, because it was so soon, but you were already mine."

"That's how I felt, too. And now that we've figured it out, I'm in the stocks for two weeks."

"I'll visit you every night and I'll rub your back for you."

"That's okay." Maggie was getting frustrated and was desperate to stand up or stretch out or do anything but be bent over. A little back rub had helped her cramp but she was about to go crazy. "When do you need to leave?"

"Soon." The sky was getting lighter.

She could wait until he left. She didn't want to freak out in front of him.

They kissed a little more and then he ran back to the castle. When she thought he was out of earshot, she strained against the stockade.

The guarding Fangs came closer to see what she was doing.

"Get me out," she begged. "I can't do it."

Peterson said, "I'm sorry. We'll guard you from attack, but we aren't going to disobey the king."

Maggie cried.

Wolf arrived a few hours later with breakfast.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Daddy, get me out. I can't do it. Please."

Wolf looked at the lock. It was massive and would be difficult to pick. It would take time to break it or to chop at the wood holding it.

"Do you really want me to?" he asked.

"Yes. I can't take it anymore."

"If you really want me to, I will. But it means you'll be an outlaw and you'll have to run away. And people will know I helped you, so our family will have to hide. Wendell controls the mirror so your mom and sister will be stuck in this world. And Wendell will suspect Stefan and the Fangs helped so all of them will be outlaws, too. And everyone will think that Wendell was right about you and no one will listen. Do you still want me to get you out?"

Maggie sobbed, defeated.

He held her head and wiped her tears, forcing her to look at him. "I know this is horrible. But you missed the full moon. If you can do that, you can handle this. It'll get easier, I promise. After a week, you won't even notice it anymore."

Maggie continued to cry.

When there were a lot of people around, Maggie would preach. When her voice failed, she would stop. There were always at least three Fangs and usually a family member to keep her company.

The stockade chafed her neck and wrists raw, her joints ached from their static positions, going to the bathroom was an embarrassingly coordinated effort with a parent and a bucket, and she didn't like being handfed.

Stefan would arrive late, rub her back as best he could and fall asleep at her feet.

Each day broke her spirit a little more. Each morning her speech was a little less inspiring, her protests a little weaker and her discomfort less noticable.

Wendell had hoped the mob would have killed her that first morning, but he settled for the accounts of her losing her will to fight.

Stefan tried to ignore her dying spirit and was extra cheerful in an attempt to draw her out. But on day ten when he asked if she'd like to wear a turtle on her head and she said, "Okay," in the same tone as when he'd asked if she were thirsty.

He kissed her, but even that was lackluster.

"Only a few more days, love."

"Okay."

Her whole family was worried. But public sympathy was growing. Enough people heard her speeches when they were spirited that word of her spread and doubt was raised about the Duke Lewis and King Wendell's Industrial Revolution.

Court gossip also spread and after everyone found out she was mated to the Captain of the Fangs she became part of a tragic romance. Everyone saw her slipping away but it only added to her tale.


	10. Chapter 10

On day twelve around noon, a group of picketters gathered near her.

"No more factories!" they cried.

It took a while for Maggie to notice, but when she did, they gave her strength. They had listened and they had believed her. She resumed her speeches and the picketters supported her.

Wendell was upset. "I didn't mean to make her into a martyr," he complained. Then he remembered Stefan was standing behind him as part of his Royal Guard and he stopped. He'd grown so used to Stefan's presence that Wendell had forgotten about him.

And now the nobles in his court wanted more information on the effects of the factories on the land. They wanted scholars to go into the 10th Kingdom for research.

He called a secret meeting with Duke Lewis and posted his guards outside the room.

Wendell asked Tony, "What do we do now? She's got the peasants in an uproar, and now the nobles want her words proven or disproven. She gets out tomorrow. Begging your pardon, but I expected her to be dead the first day."

"You said you were going to let the public decide her fate. They've decided to listen to her. You can't go back on that now that she's served her sentence. But you could arrest her if she misbehaves again."

"That I should be so lucky."

"Ask her to swear fealty to you. If she refuses, you can arrest her."

"I can only ask my subjects to swear if I give them a title, which I am not going to do."

"She and Christine were born in New York. They aren't natural born subjects. You can reasonably ask her to swear fealty."

"I have to admit, I was worried that you would take her side."

"She is my granddaughter, and I'm glad she wasn't killed, but she's always been stubborn. I wouldn't mind if she were imprisoned for her own safety. I don't have fond memories of the Snow White Memorial Prison, but if you let my daughter provide comforts for Maggie's cell, everyone wins."

"This is going to set back our plans. I was hoping to convince the nobles of the benefits of the 10th Kingdom's technology by summer with those gadgets, and then get to work on the weapons. What were they called again?"

"Handguns."

"Hand-guns. That's not very imaginative. I'll work on a better name for them."

"We could bribe scientists from the 10th Kingdom to lie about the impact of the factories."

"I wanted to avoid contact between our worlds. Is it true, what she says?"

Tony shook his head. "She's exaggerating. In the 10th Kingdom, we call them hippies. There are small effects, but if we recycle and keep some green belts, it'll be fine. If you're worried about it, we could abandon the factories and just buy technology from the 10th Kingdom and ship it here. It would be difficult to get the weapons in bulk and to deliver them to Central Park, but if we had to, it could be done."

"It's the factories she has a problem with. She doesn't mind blacksmiths. What if we still built the weapons but we used dwarves instead?"

Tony fidgeted. "It would be better than nothing." The brilliance of the plan struck him. "We could teach the dwarves about assembly lines and convert their caves into underground factories. She can't complain about pollution that's contained."

"It's a start. I'll want more outside the Dragon Mountain so I'll need to solve this environmental problem. Hire the dwarves and build my motorcar, and then focus on the small… slingshot… handguns. And do not train the Fangs how to use them. I can't trust them anymore. Find the best human guards and train them with the handguns. Blast!" Wendell cursed as he left the room. "I need a better name than that!"

On the morning of the fourteenth day, Stefan asked the king when Maggie would be released.

"Tomorrow morning."

"But today-"

"Is the final day of her sentence, and she will see it to the end. Not another word!"

Maggie fidgeted and was anxious to get out of the stocks. By the end of the day her family worried that the king would extend her sentence. Stefan arrived after sundown and told them that the king promised to release her in the morning.

"And then you can come home with me," he beamed.

"With you?" Virginia asked. "Surely she's coming back to her rooms in the palace."

"Would that be a good idea?" Christine asked.

"I thought under the circumstances we should take her to the cottage," said Wolf.

"It's been years since we've been there. I'll bet the roof needs repair and the mattresses are moldy…"

"But we're mates. We belong together now," Stefan said.

Christine interrupted. "Maggie? What do you think?"

Maggie was unsettled by having everyone's sudden attention. "I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead," she admitted. "The cottage would be nice, but it's so far away. I think I'd rather stay with Stefan."

Stefan rushed to her and kissed her hand.

"I think if you two are mates you should be open about it," Wolf said. "I proposed to Virginia before we mated."

"We don't need to, Dad. We're wolves. We mate for life. We don't need to get married like humans."

Wolf's voice was tense. "I would like to know that the wolf my daughter prefers is honorable enough to marry her."

Stefan instantly sank to his knee.

"Stefan, if you propose to me while I'm in the stocks I will bite you," Maggie threatened.

"Do you promise?" Stefan grinned. He stood back up but glanced back at Wolf.

Wolf shrugged. "You need to get a ring first, anyway."

"Oh, it's so romantic!" Virginia said. Everyone looked at her. "I didn't mean getting proposed to in the stocks. I'm not crazy. My daughter's getting married. Every mother waits for that moment."


	11. Chapter 11

Maggie was too anxious to sleep. She dozed off every few hours, but watched the sky for dawn.

Dawn broke and Stefan stayed with her. His punishment was over, as far as he was concerned. At eight o'clock, there was a loud fanfare of the royal alert. King Wendell was coming.

"Why is he coming?" Maggie asked, beginning to panic. She didn't want her sentence extended. She would go crazy.

Peasants emptied their homes and shops to gather at the stockade. The royal carriage, carrying the trumpeters, arrived and the king stepped out and climbed to the platform.

Human guards kept the crowd back and he waited for the crowd to gather a little more before shouting his proclamation.

"This woman, through her violent actions, has brought a serious matter to my attention. Rather than attempt an audience with our royal person, she took matters into her own hands and while it pained me to punish her, she had caused the deaths of many of my subjects. I have decided to stop building factories until I have looked into this environmental matter and learn the truth of it." The crowd cheered. "And if Margaret Lewis, born of the 10th Kingdom, swears fealty to me, she may go free, having served her sentence and completing her purpose to inform me of the perils of pollution." The crowd cheered and King Wendell personally unlocked the stocks and opened the vise.

Maggie's neck and wrists were instantly cold from the sudden air, and while she felt lighter without the stocks holding her, she couldn't move at first. Her back did not want to cooperate when she tried to straighten. Her elbows and shoulders also hurt to move. Stefan hesitantly passed the guards and approached her. Wendell nodded, and Stefan rubbed her back and massaged her arms. Maggie was embarrassed that everyone in town was watching her while she couldn't even stand up. She pushed against the stockade and felt her elbows pop. She grunted and continued to push. Stefan pressed against her back and several vertebrae cracked as she nearly straightened.

Her arms ached and felt more comfortable bent. She looked like an old crooked woman. She slowly turned to face King Wendell and shuffled closer. Stefan helped her kneel.

"My lord, I swear to devote my life to helping you rule your kingdom honorably. I will do nothing but that which keeps your kingdom safe, hale, and prosperous, and to honor you above all other royalty."

Wendell wasn't completely satisfied, but he couldn't argue against her words in front of the crowd without arousing suspicion of his motives. So he acknowledged the win to Maggie and nodded. The crowd cheered and the King waved to them and left in his carriage. Stefan helped Maggie stand back up and scooped her into his arms. "I think I know just what you need."

Back at the Fang's wing, he had a hot bath prepared. "It'll loosen your muscles."

"And get me clean, finally. I smell like week old roadkill." Maggie climbed in and hissed as the water touched her raw wrists.

"I don't mind it."

"You wouldn't mind, but humans do. And I do too, a little."

Stefan rolled up his sleeves and grabbed a sponge. He gently washed her and rubbed her muscles. The warmth and security of the bath soothed her and she fell asleep. When the water started to turn cold, he lifted her out and dressed her in a nightgown and put her to bed.

She woke up alone and stiff. She stretched as much as she could and hobbled around Stefan's room. She dressed in a set of his clothes and left for the mess hall of the Fang's barracks. She gathered a bowl of stew and some hard bread and took her time eating. Then she worked her way to the training yard and watched the Fangs practice. She laughed at herself that she was still working on standing up straight. But she stretched out again and started hobbling around the outside of the yard.

The Fangs didn't know what to do with her, so they ignored her.

After an hour, her legs felt a little better and her stride was starting to even out.

Stefan returned from his meeting with the lieutenants and panicked when he didn't find her in his rooms. He ran back toward the dungeons, sure that she'd been arrested again. Then he saw her making her way around the training yard.

"What are you doing out here?" Relief fueled his anger.

"Excuse me?" Maggie was surprised at his tone.

"You need to rest and recover. If you push yourself, you could get hurt."

"I know my own limits." After two weeks of relying on others for everything, Maggie had enjoyed an afternoon of independence.

"Go back to bed."

"Not until I'm done." She was actually getting worn out and was going to stop soon, but now that he was making a fuss, she had to keep going.

"I say you're done now." Stefan threw her over his shoulder and carried her back to his room. Maggie struggled and cursed at him but she was still too weak. He dumped her onto the bed.

Maggie sat up and crossed her arms. "I didn't realize my mate was such an ass."

"I already knew you were stubborn."

"Did you enjoy showing off in front of your Fangs?"

"That's not what I was doing."

"I was walking! I wasn't riding a horse or cliff diving! But you couldn't let me be. You had to play a power game and show off how manly you are."

"You just spent two weeks in the stocks. I wouldn't have even left you except that I assumed you'd still be sleeping."

"Stefan, I can look after myself. I appreciate what you've done for me for the past two weeks but I'm not like that. Having to ask for help to eat and change and bathe and… that was humiliating. I do know my limits and if I thought I needed to, I would have stayed in bed. Go back to your work and let me worry about me."

"I can't do that."

"What?" Maggie stared at him. "Were you mad because I wasn't where you left me? Did you think I was sneaking off to blow up another building?"

Stefan tried to hide his guilt. "We have to be careful that you don't do anything threatening. We need to talk about what you plan on doing next."

"That's my business."

"That's our business. When we're married, what you do affects both of us."

Maggie looked away, suddenly uncomfortable.

"What is it?"

"I don't think we should get married."

"What?! I thought you said we were mates. What are you even doing here with me?"

"We are mates. You will always be my mate, but I have more work to do and you're the Captain of the Fangs. The one man, besides King Wendell I shouldn't be involved with. I wish it wasn't you. Then I could ask you to come with me. I wouldn't be ashamed of defying Wendell and being a convict. It would affect you if we married. But if we don't, you don't share my guilt."

Stefan had to sit down. "What are you planning to do?" he asked.

"I can't tell you. You're the king's man."

"I defied him for you!" Stefan sprang to his feet. "I lost his trust because of you. I have every Fang and courtier whispering behind my back because of everything I've done for you. They think I'm bewitched because it is so hard to believe that I could love someone as much as I love you. And you accuse me of being the king's man?"

"I'm sorry. But if I told you I was going to break the law as soon as I was able, you'd try to stop me."

"Because I don't want you to face execution, not because I'm spying for the king."

"But if we aren't married, only I will be punished. Otherwise, Wendell will assume you knew something and you'd be tried as an accomplice."

"Can't you just stop? He said he'd look into what you've said."

"You don't know Wendell the way I do. You don't know what's at stake or even what's involved. This isn't over and I haven't won yet."

"You thought you'd be dead by now. Just enjoy your life."

"Just because I didn't die means I should stop fighting. I…" Maggie lost her voice. She shed a few tears and covered her face.

Stefan moved to the bed and held her. She was tired and hurt and he hoped she was speaking out of exhaustion.

"Let's get some sleep," he said.

She fell asleep quickly and he knew she'd overexerted herself. Stefan didn't know what to do about her. It had been romantic for her to come with him rather than live with her family but she had all but told him that she had more planned and would leave as soon as she was able. She would be better off with her parents. They could keep an eye on her. Maybe that was the true reason she wanted to stay with him. His duties would keep him busy most of the day.

When he woke up, he was spooning her and she was talking quietly. He gave her hand a squeeze to let her know he was awake but her tone didn't change and she kept talking on.

"…it's like everything is dead or soulless. I don't know if it was different before, but with technology comes science and science only cares about what can be proven with logic and laws and rules. Whatever laws govern magic, science won't accept them. Everything will become from the brain, not the heart.

"Assembly lines and interchangable parts. Everything will be the same. Everything will be too easy. Our lives will be focused on having more because it was so easy to get what we have. Garbage everywhere. Plastic that won't decay. So unnatural.

"Weapons just get bigger and stronger until everyone can destroy everyone else. Entire planets turned into radioactive ash. And what's the point? A stalemate that decomposes and threatens those that hold it.

"It's not just the factories or the pollution. It's the mentalities that come with technology that I'm afraid of. Scientists that want to study, dissect and harness magic for their use. Magic is dangerous but it is beautiful. Science killed the soul of the 10th Kingdom. Grandpa Lewis doesn't see that. He sees and feels the soul of this world and it scares him. He wants to make this world like his home. Wendell doesn't understand what the cost of his lust will be. He's willing to sell the soul of this world for what he wants.

"But he won't control it. Thoughts and ideas spread further than gadgets. He'll infect the other kingdoms, even if he won't give them the technology. They'll make their own to fight him.

"Will they even realize what they lost? When it's too late will anyone even know what happened?"

"You don't know it'll happen like that."

"If I watch someone fall into a pit and die, I feel responsible to warn the next person about the pit. And when I love that person more than I love myself, I will do anything it takes to keep them safe." She looked at him over her shoulder. "Have you ever been through the mirror?"

"No."

"I can't take each person that I need to convince into the 10th Kingdom, but if it would help you believe me…" she rolled over to look at him in the dim light from the window. "It would be nice to have someone on my side."

"I'm on your side. Even if I disagree with you." Stefan leaned in to kiss her but she blocked him and rolled away. He felt her sigh under his arm and then she got up.

"I need to pee," she said.

She went for a long walk after leaving the toilet, stretching everything that felt sore. She felt a little stronger and she could stand straighter but it would be a few weeks before she would be back to her old self.

"Two more laps, and back to bed," she told herself.

Stefan sent Virginia and Wolf a message to visit Maggie before he left to meet with King Wendell.

"Can I trust you, Captain?" the king asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Margaret Lewis is still a potential threat to the realm. I want her under constant surveillance. She can incite a panic or a mob. I have people looking into the pollution accusation and I don't need her preaching and spreading doubt in the meantime.

"I want to know where she goes, what she says, and who she talks to. I want her arrested if she speaks publicly on any topic. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now about those trolls…"

Virginia found Maggie walking the Fang courtyard.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah, it'll just be time, now."

"Stefan couldn't get any time off? Maybe you should stay with me and your father. Or maybe Christine could let you bunk with her."

"I'm fine."

"I would- we would all be more comfortable if there was someone watching over you while you recovered. There isn't anything wrong with that. You went through a lot and you will need help to get your strength back."

"Mom, all I need is time. I know my limits and I'm being careful. All I'm doing is walking!" She laughed. "Everyone is more afraid of what they think I'll do. Look at me. I'm walking. I'm taking it easy and slow. I'm surrounded by people and… I get to spend more time with Stefan. I love you and thanks to everyone for helping me, but… I need some space. I've had people handfeeding me, washing me, helping me keep from peeing on myself and I need some space."

"I understand what you're trying to say, but families help each other. If you need help, we're here for you. Just because I fed you for two weeks doesn't mean I won't help you anymore."

"I know, Momma."

They hugged and Virginia said, "I'll have the rest of your things send down." They walked on together and Virginia said, "I should tell you the story why your sister decided to make raven feathers popular. Sometimes you girls surprise me with how devious you can be."

"Why?"

"She could tell it better but it started when a rookie courtier criticised Christine's dress. And when Christine makes an enemy she's not content until that girl is running home."

"And where do raven feathers come in?"

"I'm getting there."


End file.
